Cold welding for linoleum

Despite the fact that manufacturers of building products offer customers a wide variety of flooring, the long-invented linoleum remains one of the most popular. It is cheap, sold in large canvases, or even rolls, and anyone can handle the installation. But it is not always possible to do without seams, and here the landlord, not particularly experienced in repair work, can fall into a stupor, because it comes to welding. But there is nothing wrong, you definitely will not need any expensive equipment. Cold welding for linoleum - the process is not too complicated, but about its features - read in our article.

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If the room is big

Owners of small apartments do not experience any problems with laying linoleum. They just cut it to the shape of the room, since the width of the material is usually enough. Another thing is if the room is large and you need to use two or even three panels. Then you have to rack your brains on how best to make stitches. At the same time, the owners want to combine several points:

• the seam should not be very noticeable, but better - if it will not be visible at all;
• edges should not diverge;
• pieces should not be deformed - it is very ugly and uncomfortable when the edge of one rises up and cracks form on the edge of the other.

Important! If you have not bought the material yet, but are only at the stage of its selection and clarification of all the nuances of installation, then review the information contained in the following articles:

• Which linoleum to choose in the kitchen?
• What is the best linoleum for children?

All these troubles can be avoided if you choose the right type of connection of paintings. Two methods are used for this:

• hot welding of linoleum;
• cold welding of linoleum.

Important! If you are going to finish the floors with this material, develop all the myths for yourself and take into account the real facts that are outlined in our article "Is linoleum harmful to health?".

Which one is better?

The one that best suits your conditions. The fact is that when working with this material, a variety of situations arise, sometimes those from which you must quickly find the right way:

• Cold welding is simpler, requires less effort and time, so usually those who lay the flooring on their own prefer it.
• The hot way is an activity for patient people with good skills in working with material, and in addition, special tools are needed for it.
• During hot welding, the junction is heated with a gas torch. It is not very convenient, besides, it is dangerous. For cold welding, no additional devices are needed, all that is required is probably in your arsenal.
• Cold welding allows laying flooring in rooms with the most bizarre configuration.

Important! Some inexperienced masters try to heat linoleum with a soldering iron - this method does not give any effect, just the opposite - the edge can become even more uneven than before.

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Advantages of Cold Welding

Why is this method so popular? There are several reasons:

• the seam with accurate work turns out perfectly smooth and almost imperceptible, and you can immediately get rid of flaws;
• a reliable connection is formed that does not diverge and does not break;
• the seam is thin, while in hot welding it often looks coarse;
• when working, do not need excessive physical effort.

Important! If we talk about the shortcomings, there are not so many of them, and the most important thing is that after the coating is laid, it takes some time to wait until the glue dries, but this is very short.

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Some simple tips

The welding method should be selected before the material is purchased. As for the linoleum itself, then, going to the store, do not forget to take into account several points:

1. To get the smoothest joint possible, you need an overlap of approximately 60 mm.
2. Immediately buy gloves, because cold welding is quite aggressive, glue should not fall on open areas of the body.
3. When working with cold welding, other precautions should be taken - use a respirator, ventilate the room, since volatile substances harmful to health are released.
4. A very useful thing is the needle tip, it allows you to fill with glue all the cracks and troughs.

Important! The most harmful substance formed during work with glue is chlorine. But after the cold welding has dried, this element is not dangerous.

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So what is cold welding?

Cold welding is not so much a process as a special type of glue. How to glue linoleum with cold welding? Each substance has its own technological features that must be considered when working. Glue for linoleum has a rather complex composition. It includes:

• tetrahydrofuran - 80% or so;
• PVC
• plasticizers.

Types of Cold Welding

Glue for linoleum "cold welding" is of several types. This can be found by marking:

• BUT;
• FROM;
• T.

Which one is suitable? It depends, first of all, on the type of coating, its quality and age.

Type A

This compound is for PVC. It perfectly glues solid linoleum or brand new. Experts recommend using it in those cases when you need to perform a seam of complex configuration, because this composition is liquid.

But he has one feature that must be considered. It has the property of dissolving linoleum, and it is on this basis that its principle of action is based. On the one hand, this is good - the gaps become completely invisible. On the other hand, you need a perfectly accurate fitting of fragments.

Type C

If the linoleum is old, there is simply no better composition. Why lay old coat? But it has already been laid, you would not want to change it, but the seams began to diverge. And then type C welding is applied.

It is thicker than type A glue, but it seizes the gaps between the sheets tightly, even if the edges have diverged greatly.

Important! Unfortunately, if the gap is large, a bulge is often formed at the welding site. But just to deal with this problem is quite simple - you just need to cut off the excess with a sharp knife.

Type T

This composition is good if you have linoleum on a felt basis. The glue is transparent and elastic, which allows to obtain a high-quality connection even of such a complex material. In the package you will find a T-shaped nozzle - thanks to it the composition got its name.

Important! If you are planning to independently carry out the entire amount of work on finishing the floor, take into account other nuances that will affect the final quality of the floor decor:

• How to install skirting boards on linoleum?
• How long should linoleum lie before installing the baseboard?

Popular brands

What else to look for when buying glue for cold welding? Of course, on the brand. The more solid the manufacturer, the higher the likelihood that the composition will be of high quality and will give a good connection.

In stores you can find such compositions:

• Homakoll s401;
• “Syntex”;
• “Forbo.”

Which to prefer?

• Homakoll is a professional glue often used by construction companies. Guaranteed quality, but you may not like the price.
• “Syntex” and “Forbo” give good connections, are somewhat cheaper. In principle, there is not much difference between the brands.

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How to glue?

The first thing you should pay attention to when buying linoleum and adhesive for welding is the instructions.Everything is written in detail there. But there are general principles of cold welding. They look like this:

1. Prepare linoleum - the cut should be even and the edges should be in close contact. This is obtained if the pieces are cut at the same time, if there is no insulation, this is obtained easily.
2. Under a future joint, lay a sheet of plywood so as not to damage the base and dull the cutting tool.
3. On the lower edge of the place where you will cut, stick a strip of adhesive tape.
4. Lay overlays, 6 cm - ideal.
5. Glue tape on top of the cut.
6. Align the canvases.
7. Cut them at the same time on a metal level plate.
8. Remove the trim.
9. Overlay the strips, aligning the slices so that none of the edges protrude.
10. If necessary, remember the edges.

Important! If the edges of the linoleum are even, a double cut becomes optional, the edges are quite simple to combine and cut along the joint.

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Apply glue

The gluing method is indicated in the instructions, but two methods are generally used. The choice of option depends on several factors:

• type of linoleum;
• its thickness;
• glue quality;
• availability of gluing places;
• the length of the seam.

Option 1

The composition is applied to both canvases. In this case, the glue, once in the gap, dissolves the edges of linoleum, resulting in the formation of a polymer.

Option 2

You can apply the composition not to both fragments, but only to one. After a piece of linoleum is lubricated, it is glued to the floor, then the second strip is greased and laid close to it. Both fragments align well, especially at the gluing site.

The gluing process itself looks quite simple. As a rule, the needle tip is already standing on the tube, and you just have to free the hole so that glue starts to come out of it. If the tube is closed with a regular cap, then the tip is included:

1. Insert the tip into the slot.
2. Gently press the tube.
3. When a drop of glue appears on the adhesive tape that is at the gluing site, gently draw a tip along the future seam, leaving an adhesive trace from 3 to 5 mm wide.
4. Wait 15 minutes and remove the tape.
5. Cut off the tubercles that will certainly form after such a procedure with a sharp knife.

After the cold welding of linoleum is done, you need to wait a couple of hours. After the composition is fully seized, you can safely step on the seam site.

Important! It happens that in the process the glue gets on the surface of linoleum, on which there is no adhesive tape. The composition should not be removed immediately; spots may remain. Let the drops dry, and then remove them with a knife.

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Hot welding linoleum

Welding linoleum joints with a gas torch is a laborious process, but sometimes it is extremely necessary. Most often, this method is used in public buildings, where many visitors walk on the floor, that is, the coating experiences significant mechanical stresses. The coating itself is made very durable, it costs much more than ordinary linoleum, which is laid in the apartments. The quality of the floor is higher, but it is also more difficult to glue seams.

Important! The durability of the finished flooring is affected not only by the quality of the material itself and the method of its installation. Equally important is proper operation and cleaning. Read about all these nuances in our special publication. "Care for linoleum".

To perform hot welding, you need:

• welding torch (or a very powerful soldering iron);
• round or triangular filler bars.

The rods are not metal, but polyvinyl chloride. Before performing hot welding, linoleum must be glued over the entire area and wait at least a day until it is completely dry.

For hot welding, the following technology is used:

1. On the panels to be joined, it is necessary to cut the edges in the form of a bar, as a result, grooves with a V-shaped section are obtained.
2. The joints are heated with a welding torch - the compressed air at the tip has a temperature of 400 ° C, and this is why the torch is used - it is not always possible to find a soldering iron that is capable of this.
3. The burner and bar are held along the seam.
4. Towels that have already become soft are connected using a pinch roller.
5. The seam is allowed to cool so that it can be touched, and the protruding part of the bar is cut off - this is done with a chisel or arched knife.
6. After all this, the seam is sanded.

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Stock footage

Thus, if you want to glue linoleum on your own, without the involvement of a repair company, it is more convenient to use cold welding, especially since in construction stores you will be offered all its possible types and you can always choose a composition that is suitable specifically for your type of coating.